2.  Environmental concerns rose in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s that would greatly affect the definition of clean, pure water and the responsibility of the government to provide such water.  In the early 1970s, environmental lobbyists in the United States began to see results in their fight for the environment.  It is believed that the main source of the pollution of the water in the 1970’s was industrial waste. › Industrial plants were the main targets of the law

3.  The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 was the first major U.S. law to address water pollution.  Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to sweeping amendments in 1972. As amended in 1977, the law became commonly known as the Clean Water Act (CWA).  There was no universal standard or definition for clean, pure water.  Three Main influence of why the Clean Water Act needed to be put into place: › As the 20th century progressed, more and more metropolitan areas in the world found it necessary to install water treatment plants in order to provide clean, healthy water to their residents. › It became a general principle in the developed world that every person had the right to clean, pure water. › Many city officials, as they noted the disinfecting power of chlorine, believed that providing disinfected, yet untreated, water to city residents was their only responsibility.

4.  The 1972 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (known as the Clean Water Act or CWA) provide the statutory basis for the NPDES permit program and the basic structure for regulating the discharge of pollutants from point sources to waters off the United States. › Section 402 of the CWA specifically required EPA to develop and implement the NPDES program.  The CWA gives EPA the authority to set effluent limits on an industry- wide (technology-based) basis and on a water-quality basis that ensure protection of the receiving water.  The CWA requires anyone who wants to discharge pollutants to first obtain an NPDES permit, or else that discharge will be considered illegal.

5.  The CWA allowed EPA to authorize the NPDES Permit Program to state governments, enabling states to perform many of the permitting, administrative, and enforcement aspects of the NPDES Program. › In states that have been authorized to implement CWA programs, EPA still retains oversight responsibilities.  Main Titles: › Title I - Research and Related Programs › Title II - Grants for the Construction of Treatment Works › Title III - Standards and Enforcement › Title IV - Permits and Licenses › Title V - General Provisions

6.  Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) Program › In 1973, EPA issued the Oil Pollution Prevention regulation to address the oil spill prevention provisions contained in the Clean Water Act of 1972. The regulation forms the basis of EPA's oil spill prevention, control, and countermeasures, or SPCC, program, which seeks to prevent oil spills from certain aboveground and underground storage tanks  Total Maximum Daily Loads › Some waters in the nation still do not meet the Clean Water Act national goal of "fishable, swimmable" despite the fact that nationally required levels of pollution control technology have been implemented by many pollution sources. Clean Water Act Section 1313 addresses these waters that are not "fishable, swimmable" by requiring states to identify the waters and to develop total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for them, with oversight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As such, TMDLs can play a key role in watershed management.

7.  Wetlands and Agriculture › Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands. Activities in waters of the United States regulated under this program include fill for development, water resource projects (such as dams and levees), infrastructure development (such as highways and airports) and mining projects. Section 404 requires a permit before dredged or fill material may be discharged into waters of the United States, unless the activity is exempt from Section 404 regulation.  Representative Frank Pallone introduced H.R. 1310, the Clean Water Protection Act on March 4, 2009. The bill would amend the CWA by redefining the term, "fill material" to exclude "any pollutant discharged into the water primarily to dispose of waste

8.  Water treatment plants were constructed in every area of the United States to help ensure that every person and area had access to clean water.  The Clean Water Act of 1972 helped to spur these changes in the communities across the country and in people's lives. › Cities were given grants to help build these plants and grants were also given to industries to help them create a more environmentally friendly way of getting rid of their pollutants.  The Clean Water Act of 1972 has made a big difference in the United States, but more still needs to be done in our country. › Communities around the world also need to improve their water quality.

9.  The citizens only in the United States are the only ones that are protected under the Clean Water Act, and it ensures that every one should be granted access to clean unpolluted waters.  Waterways are of economic importance to the United States and its people. They are sources of food, commerce, and recreation. › Polluted water threatens to destroy the ability of Americans to enjoy their waters; therefore, the Clean Water Act was passed to protect the integrity of America's water systems.

10.  Increasing public interest in protecting America’s waters from pollution pushed Congress to enact the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, popularly known as the Clean Water Act (CWA), in 1972. As amended in 1977, this law became commonly known as the Clean Water Act. › The Act established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States.  The act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that surface waters would meet standards necessary for human sports and recreation by 1983.  The principal body of law currently in effect is based on the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972 and was significantly expanded from the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1948. › Major amendments were enacted in the Clean Water Act of 1977 and the Water Quality Act of 1987.

11.  Since 1972 then it has been amended during the same year it came into effect and further provisions have been added to the original act in 1977 and 1987. › The Clean Water Act targets polluted water at the surface. The Clean Water does not protect sources of ground water or water quantity issues.  The EPA is also responsible for mitigating polluted water runoff from agriculture. Farmers use pesticides and herbicides; they spray the chemicals on the soil. When it rains, the chemicals get washed up and slowly make their way to navigable waters. › This was the focus of the Clean Water Act Program for the early years  The Clean Water Act was later amended in 1977 and 1987 to include provisions that regulate the quality of water.  The 1987 Water Quality Act responded to the problem of industrial storm water that carried deadly pollutants into larger bodies of water. Urban runoff is also a problem because oil, antifreeze, and other pollutants on the road flow into storm drains and pollute rivers, streams, and oceans.

12.  S.787 - Clean Water Restoration Act  A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction of the United States over waters of the United States. › IF this amendment gets to the Senate and passes a vote there, (S. 787) would grant the federal government authority over ALL water – both navigable waters of the United States (Oceans and Waterways), which the feds already preside over, but also NON-navigable water as well.

13.  The continued dumping of hundreds of millions of pounds of toxic chemicals into our waterways and the significant violation of the Clean Water Act by nearly 2,000 large facilities stems from several specific policy failures.  The government, including both state agencies and the U.S. EPA, have failed to properly deter polluters. Meanwhile, the courts have eroded citizens’ ability to file suits in order to enforce the Clean Water Act.  Regulators have failed to progressively lower permitted amounts of pollution in order to move toward the zero- discharge goal of the Clean Water Act.

14.  The Clean Water Act, a litigious environmental triumph faces a debate over detrimental redefinition and continued enactment.  Arguments over polluted waters are the same as those dealt with in 1987 Amendments to the Act.  Point source pollution control has seen many victories while the remedy for non-point source pollutants are contained in strong provisions of the CWA existing as cures. › redefining "navigable waters" of the Act

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